Marine manager Neil Young has reiterated that there are still levels for his side to reach after they continued their unbeaten run.
Belper Town became the latest casualties during the Mariners’ winning run as Hayden Campbell and Sol Solomon helped them up to sixth.
Solomon continued his form in front of goal since making the move from Jersey Bulls and he could’ve already been on the scoresheet prior to his goal but saw his penalty strike the post.
Young felt the game could’ve been a goal glut but they failed to find the back of the net. He told Off The Park: “I think first 20, 25 minutes, it could’ve been 6-2, we’ve hit the bar, hit the post, missed a penalty, they’ve missed a good chance on the back of their goal.
“I do think the game could’ve been well and truly over in half-an-hour. We didn’t put them to bed then 2-1 is a funny scoreline, we were never hanging on but at 2-1 anything can happen.
“First half-an-hour, very pleased [with the performance] thought we were very good but I don’t doubt the boys effort, the effort and commitment is fantastic, I just think there’s so much more to come from us.
“That’s my frustration at the moment but it’s a nice frustration to have because we’ve took 10 points out of the last 12, sixth in the division, we’ve got the players, I’d like a little bit more consistency in team selection but generally, happy with the lads. But I do think we’ve got so much more in the locker to show, I’m sure that will come.”
There was an outgoing prior to their win as Djavan Pedro was recalled by Salford City. Following his recall, he was immediately sent on loan to Marine’s Northern Premier League rivals Radcliffe.
Discussing the news, Young said: “I spoke to DJ on Thursday night at training, Salford wanted DJ to play more as a nine and wanted him to play more as a nine – that wasn’t something I could guarantee for the players’ development.
“Although he was recalled, at the time I never knew that something was lined up for him to go somewhere. That’s the crux of it really, his work ethic was tremendous, we wish him well in the next stage of his development at Radcliffe.”
This weekend, Marine return to cup action as they travel to Basford United in the FA Trophy.
The Mariners needed penalties to beat Radcliffe in the previous round and whilst Young is aware of their qualities, he expressed confidence in his side’s ability if they perform to the level they capable of on Saturday.
He continued: “It’s the FA Trophy, the first round, a good cup competition to be in particularly now we gone down to – apart from next week – one game a week, it’s always good to have distractions.
‘We really want to progress, Basford are a tough nut to crack especially at home, they’ve had some good results, they beat Boston in the FA Cup which is no mean feat.
“Good players, an experienced team, players from the pro game and the non-league game but I keep saying it, we’ve got to concentrate on getting the best version of ourselves and I believe we’re not far away. I do think when we click, we’ve got the makings of a really good side.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis as we do for every game, we’ll work on some finer stuff at training and hopefully we can put that into practice, I’d like us to impose ourselves more on games and let other teams change their way of playing to suit us.
“That comes with what I’m talking about, that final bit, where we’re at and how we evolve over these next few weeks, I think we’ve got the players in the building, we’ve just got to get a way of playing which everyone’s happy, comfortable with and really drive that home then impose ourselves more on teams. I think that’s the bit that frustrates me a bit because we can do that.”
[Featured Image: Susan Nugent]
